The current book volume is Part 2 (第二册, dì èr cè), Second Edition ( large print edition ), of the 6 parts of "3000 Must-know Chinese Characters". The book provides you about 500 frequently used simplified Chinese characters with corresponding pinyin, and multiple meanings in English. All the characters are organized in different chapters based on the associated radicals (部首, Bù shǒu). In particular, characters with multiple sounds have been clearly highlighted in the book. Mandarin Chinese is a pictographic language. The Chinese characters correspond to pictograms. Each and everything in the Chinese language can be represented (interpreted) in the form of characters. Although it's complicated to estimate the total number of Chinese characters, it's worth mentioning that the native Chinese people are proficient in over 5,000 characters. In particular, they use about 3,000 characters in their day-to-day life. If you wish to learn Chinese properly, you'll need to learn those 3,000 characters.: ) Online Mandarin Chinese lessons (Ming Mandarin): www.MingMandarin.com -Jia Ming